One Great Panel: The Summer Hikaru Died

Hello, creepy.

No series packs so much into single panels quite like The Summer Hikaru Died. The underlying, subtle creepiness is imbued in every facial expression, every little misstep in Hikaru’s imitation game, every unseen terror.

The panel we’re looking at today is right at the start. Chapter 1, page 7.

Context: Yoshiki, the one being hugged, has called out Hikaru, the hugger, on not really being Hikaru, but some imitation of him. As readers, we don’t know what this imitation is, what threat it poses, or what its intention is, but we know that Yoshiki and Hikaru used to be best friends. Cue the complexity.

First and foremost, the big standout from this panel is the desperation of Hikaru. This is an otherworldly being with—as we will soon find out—some pretty gnarly features, and here he is begging Yoshiki to just let him be Hikaru, to let him still be his best friend. It is, thus far, one of the only times that Yoshiki is put in a place of power in this new-ish relationship, as Hikaru reverts to veiled threats and coercion later on, putting Yoshiki on guard.

This is the beginning of a fantastically complex dynamic between a boy (Yoshiki) and this creature pretending to be his best friend. Not just pretending, mind you, but trying so hard to be Hikaru. He will later reveal that he has all the memories of Hikaru, but none of the feelings of having done the things Hikaru did. Which again hearkens back to this panel. What is Hikaru feeling here, if anything? Was he desperate for acceptance, trying hard to feel what his memories showed him? Or was he just putting on a show for Yoshiki’s sake? So many questions. And that’s what makes it such a great panel.

Just prior to this, Yoshiki called Hikaru out on not actually being Hikaru, and it’s then that we see Hikaru’s guise slip a bit, with half his face… Melting? Sagging? Ascending? Not sure what to call it, but it continues into what we see here, with the strange thing coming off one side of his face, revealing his true form. Why doesn’t he shore that up again before hugging him? He could have. Is he leaving it dangling out there to remind Yoshiki that he’s not to be trifled with? Is all this just a ploy to make Yoshiki feel like he has a part to play in this relationship? Again, so many questions.

It’s also telling that Yoshiki never hugs back, not in this panel or the few that follow, expanding on this scene. We’re been talking so much about the questions surrounding Hikaru in this panel, but what about Yoshiki? He’s known this isn’t Hikaru, but now he’s being asked to pretend like it is. What does that do to a kids’ psyche? And seriously, what is imitation Hikaru up to? Is he hiding from a bigger threat himself? That, my friends, is what we’re going to find out as we continue reading. Yeehaw!